Catholic High School Does Predictable, Small-Minded Thing

May 13, 2011

We’re sad to say that another institution has vetoed allowing same-sex couples at prom. This time it’s St. Anthony’s, a co-ed Catholic high school in South Huntington, Long Island. Angelina Lange, a 17-year-old at the school, asked for permission to bring an ex-girlfriend as her date, and school officials vetoed her request, saying “It would send a mixed message to OK her request.” Thus, instead of grasping an opportunity to encourage acceptance, the school issued a perfectly clear message: The only acceptable couples are heterosexual.

As a private institution the school has no obligation to change policies that others may see as discriminatory. But Lange, who was the first student at the school to make this request, hopes that even though she was denied, it may help someone else down the line. The students, for their part, as well as a number of parents, think that Lange should be allowed “to bring whoever she wants.”

Seriously, isn’t high school hard enough already without this kind of crap?